Mad Love

Jack shares a worried glance with Rian before he stands up and brushes off his shirt.

“Alright, I take it he’s already in his cell?” Jack asks, picking up his clipboard and pen before heading out of his office, motioning for Marilyn to follow him.

“Yes, Doctor.” She says, the click of her heels falling into perfect time with Jack’s long strides. “The Gotham Police Department was very adamant on getting him into his cell as quickly as possible.”

“Right,” Jack nods. The pair reach the entrance to the patient ward. Jack pulls out his ID card and scans it before saying goodbye to Marilyn and heading into the medium security ward.

He clutches his clipboard against his side as he walks through the medium security ward, ignoring the hoots and hollers of some of the patients. He had gotten to hear it so many times, that he just assumed that he was used to it by now.

After walking past the 100 medium security cells, he came to a large iron door with two large, muscular men standing in front of it. The men were clad in bulletproof vests, helmets, iron-toed boots, and carried at least three to four guns on them at all times. After all, at the end of the day, all of the patients here were the worst of the worst.

"Good morning, Dr. Barakat." The two guards greeted Jack in sync. They both flashed him a small smile before one of them stepped to the side. Jack headed over to the area where the guard was standing before punching in a secret pass code into the control pad.

The metal door immediately swung open and Jack stepped inside, saying a simple goodbye to the two guards as he passed through the doorway. The maximum security ward was almost always silent, as there was only usually a couple patients here. But as of today, there was only one.

As Jack stopped in front of the Joker's cell, he pulled up a plastic chair that was tucked up against the wall and sat down, crossing his legs. The Joker was sitting in the center of his cell cross-legged, playing a hand game by himself.

"My dearest, Dr. Barakat." He draws quietly. "And to whatever do I owe the pleasure?"

"I've come to visit on my own account," Jack explains quickly. "Recent studies show that lonesomeness can cause significant drawbacks in the recovery of a patient of your...stature. Now, do you have a real name that I’m able to call you by?"

“I don’t have a real name, Doc.” the Joker says, still not moving from his spot in the middle of his cell. “Just the Joker.”

“Please, Mr. Joker?”

“Before I became the person who I am today, they used to call me Alex.” the Joker says, finally admitting to something human. “I don’t remember anything else about my old life. That person is dead.”

Jack jots down the word ‘Alex’ on his clipboard. “Thank you, Mr, Joker. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

"Don't spend too much time fussing over me, Doctor." Alex says, spinning around and turning to face Jack with that twisted grin on his face. "It's only a matter of time before I find myself coming to visit you outside of the hospital on my own account. Whether you wish it or not."

Jack licks his lips nervously. Unfortunately for him, the Joker looked the exact same way he did in his mug shot. His blue hair was slicked back, his lips were bright red, his teeth were plated in metal and his eyes were even more hypnotic. But Jack caught himself.

"Mr. Joker, please. I thought it had come to your understanding that I wish for our meetings to be professional." Jack says with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose between his index and middle finger.

"I thought it had to come to your understanding that the word professional isn't in my vocabulary." The Joker purrs, rising to his feet. “I’m the Joker, baby.”

"Please, Alex." Jack says, looking back up at the brown-eyed man in front of him. "Just try for me."

"Just this once...Doctor." Alex says, licking his lips. "If I were you, I wouldn't rely on those pretty little doe eyes too often." He takes a few steps closer toward the bars, resting his head against one of them.

"Right," Jack swallows nervously, adjusting his collar. "Now, Mr. Joker, where were you born?"

"The hospital, right here in Gotham." A simple answer. A little too simple, if you asked Jack.

"What was your childhood like?"

Alex rolled his head from side to side; his skull gently hitting both of the bars around it. He looks up at Jack, those piercing brown eyes practically burning right through the question.

"I can imagine that it was probably rough." Jack says awkwardly. "My apologies."

"Oh, I'm much better now...Doctor."

Every time Alex said the word 'Doctor' it felt like Jack's heart was going to beat right out of his chest. Jack wasn't sure if it was the higher title he had earned, or the way that Alex elongated every vowel so perfectly and smoothly. Either way, every time the word was said, Jack nearly melted into a puddle on the floor.

"May I ask you a question?"

Jack nods. "Yes, Mr. Joker, but please keep it work-appropriate."

"How was your childhood, Doctor?"

Jack took a deep breath and chewed on the inside of his bottom lip. Unknowingly, his hand reached up to his face, his finger tips resting softly over the small diamond shaped scar under his eye that his father's wedding ring had left there. His eyes had focused on the floor, but when he looked up, he realized that the patient in front of him was looking at him rather intently. Jack snapped out of it, his hand dropping back into his lap.

"I hardly think that listening to my childhood history is in any way, shape, or form going to help you recover, Mr. Joker." Jack says matter-of-factly.

"Humor me."

Jack pushes his hair out of his face. "Surprisingly, my childhood wasn't quite up to par."

"This interests me...Doctor."

The corners of Jack's lips slide up into a very small smile. He felt guilty about it, but for some reason there was a small pang of pride settling deep inside of his stomach. He had interested the Joker. THE Joker. The same man that controlled 75% of all crime that happens in Gotham city. And Jack, the dorky, awkward, psychiatrist had interested him. "Would you like to know how I got these scars, Mr. Joker?"

The clown grins, flashing Jack all of his perfectly straight, shining metal teeth. "You're a clever one, Doc."

Jack had spoken to the Joker all day. From when he got into work at 5:20 am until 1:30 am when the hospital was shutting down for the night and the lights were to be turned off. They had talked about Jack mostly. And Jack knew that he was making himself vulnerable to the Joker, but he was doing it on purpose. He was doing it to show the Joker that he trusted him, that it was okay to share things with him. And for the most part, he thought that it was working.

"Alright, Mr. Joker." Jack says. He jots a few more notes down on his clipboard before capping his pen. "I very much appreciate you being so cooperative with me today, and I'll be sure to have some arrangements made to make your...room more appealing."

"Anything for you, Doctor Barakat."

Goosebumps raise on Jack's arms, but he tries to shrug it off the best he can. "You're one step closer. Now, unfortunately, I don't work on weekends. But I will have an appointment scheduled for you first thing Monday morning."

Jack could tell by the look on the Joker's face that he was anything but pleased by this.

"Goodnight, Mr. Joker." Jack says quietly, picking up his briefcase before turning and silently making his way down the hall. With each step away from Alex, Jack's anxiety began to melt away like butter. But just as he was about to head out of the maximum security patient ward, he heard an unmistakable voice coming from just down the hallway that had his anxiety back and frozen inside of his chest.

"Goodnight...Doctor."

Jack got home rather late that night. He had spent nearly all of his shift consulting with Alex. His eyes were drooping and heavy from lack of sleep. It was already two in the morning, and Jack had to be up by at least eight in the morning to be on time for brunch with his friends. He quickly crawled into bed, turning off his bedside lamp and burrowing under the covers, his thoughts immediately shifting to the Joker.

Jack couldn't quite put his finger on it, but one thing was for sure. He was drawn to the man like a moth to a flame. He quickly decided that anymore personal information of his shared was going to end in total disaster for him. He came to the sudden conclusion that whatever was going on between him and the Joker was going to come to an immediate halt.